Nathan Frederick Cayless (born 28 March 1978 in Sydney, New South Wales) is a retired New Zealand-Australian professional rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 footballer, who was a long-time captain the Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Eels

The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...

 of the National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

. His position of choice was prop forward. He is also a former captain of the New Zealand national team

New Zealand national rugby league team

The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...

, whom he led to World Cup glory against Australia in 2008. He is the older brother of fellow New Zealand international Jason Cayless

Jason Cayless

Jason Paul Cayless is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative prop forward, he is the younger brother of Parramatta Eels great, Nathan Cayless. He played his club football for the Sydney Roosters, with whom he won the 2002...

.

While attending Parramatta Marist High School

Parramatta Marist High School

Parramatta Marist High School is the oldest Catholic school in Australia.Parramatta Marist began as a school established by Father John Therry in 1820, under the direction of Mr George Morley. The school was transferred to the site of the present Cathedral in 1837 and entrusted to the care of the...

, Nathan played for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1995 and 1996. However, he chose to represent New Zealand at senior level and became one of his nation's most-capped players, appearing on 38 occasions between 1998 and 2009. He was part of the squad for both the 2000 and 2008 World Cups, and captained the side to victory in the latter event.

He retired from international rugby league in April 2009, stating that he wanted to focus the rest of his football career on the Eels. With the Eels, he holds the record for the most games as captain of any team in the NRL.

Cayless was never a prolific try-scorer; the most he ever scored in a season was 5. He also endured a scoring drought spanning over 80 games in his last several NRL seasons. In the final game of his career, Cayless finally brought the drought to an end, touching down in front of his home crowd.

Career highlights

• Junior Club: Wentworthville
• Career Stats: 184 career games to date scoring 27 tries, 1 Field Goal
• National: 38 tests for New Zealand. World Cup
  2008 Rugby League World Cup
  The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...
  
  winning captain 2008.
• Most capped Captain in the NRL: 217 Games captained.